Aid Another with Animal Companion

[wuhan]

If my Halfling Samurai, uses Aid another on his Wolf mount.

For a successful +2 attack, +4 because of helpful trait,

And the mount hits with his next attack, and gets to trip for free,

Is the Trip also at +4 CMB?

[davidernst11]

Yes. Anything that affects attack rolls also affects CMB rolls.

If you were "aiding another" for a buddy's full attack, he would gain the +2 (or in your case +4) for all of the individual attacks, and thus any combat maneuvers would also benefit.

Aiding Another is awesome and is probably one of the most under-utilized attack options in the game.

[wuhan]

davidernst11 wrote:

Yes. Anything that affects attack rolls also affects CMB rolls.

If you were "aiding another" for a buddy's full attack, he would gain the +2 (or in your case +4) for all of the individual attacks, and thus any combat maneuvers would also benefit.

Aiding Another is awesome and is probably one of the most under-utilized attack options in the game.

Great! Gonna go out and build a bunch of helpful halfling druids now.

Constrictor snakes, Scorpions, Praying Mantis, everything they do will be awesome.

[Moglun]

No. The Aid Another only applies to one attack roll, which the wolf used on the bite. The trip is a second roll, at which point the aid has been used up.
If the wolf didn't try to bite and made a trip attempt instead, the +4 would apply to that.

[wuhan]

Is the bite and the trip not the same attack?

Sure there are 2 different rolls. 1 for a bite, 1 for the trip...

but is it one attack? Bite+trip?

[davidernst11]

Sorry I missed the "one attack roll" mechanic. I guess this is why it is underutilized.

What you could do is Aid Another, and then the wolf could attempt a trip attempt without a bite, although that would also trigger an attack of opportunity since he doesn't have Improved Trip. Probably not preferable.

[davidernst11]

wuhan wrote:

Is the bite and the trip not the same attack?

Sure there are 2 different rolls. 1 for a bite, 1 for the trip...

but is it one attack? Bite+trip?

That would make sense, but the way it works is that if the bite succeeds, you gain a free "trip attempt". Thus, they are two different attack rolls. The fact that the bite can succeed and the trip attempt can fail highlights that the wolf is making two separate attacks.

[wuhan]

So if it is 2 separate attacks, and aid another only applies to the next roll...

I would have to ready an action, to aid another, after the wolf bites, I aid him to trip... (And he won't provoke.)

Just one roll right?

[davidernst11]

That would be subject to GM approval, but personally, I would allow it. I think it makes sense flavor-wise.

If you say you Handle Animal to attack as a free action, then ready an action to Aid Another once the wolf succeeds on a bite attack, that should work. The problem is that if the bite does not succeed, you will do nothing that round. Also, some characters (such as a small sized clerics) are very well armored but have low CMDs, so it might actually be easier to trip than it is to hit them.

[wuhan]

davidernst11 wrote:

That would be subject to GM approval, but personally, I would allow it. I think it makes sense flavor-wise.

If you say you Handle Animal to attack as a free action, then ready an action to Aid Another once the wolf succeeds on a bite attack, that should work. The problem is that if the bite does not succeed, you will do nothing that round. Also, some characters (such as a small sized clerics) are very well armored but have low CMDs, so it might actually be easier to trip than it is to hit them.

This probably makes the most sense, and is the most fair.

Animals don't often hit with their (grab) abilities, but when they do,
that's when the hurting begins. The bonus applied to both might be over the top.